Multiple times she told herself to walk away. Get the girl out of the diner and wash her hands of this insanity. But then Lucy would smile at her, the smile that reminded her of the little brother she once knew, and she’d be in deeper than she was before.
The clock struck ten and Zoe untied her apron. Working a minute over scheduled time was punishable in Joe’s book. She clocked out and grabbed her stuff from underneath the counter.
“You’re taking her with you, right?” Jessie asked.
“Where am I supposed to take her?” Zoe asked.
“I don’t care, as long as when you go, she goes with you. I’m not interested in entertaining some druggie for the next several hours.”
“She’s not on drugs,” Zoe said.
“And you know this from your extended history with her?”
Jessie was right to question her logic. It was more likely the girl was tripping on acid than running from someone who had erased her memories. Was that even possible?
“You could take her to the community center in town,” Pete offered from the kitchen. “They run a homeless program. They might have a cot for her.”
Zoe glanced back to where Lucy sat. She was finishing her second strawberry swirl milkshake after devouring a basket of loaded cheese fries, a hamburger, and an order of chicken fingers. All of which Zoe had paid for and had cost her more than she’d made in tips during her shift.
“And if they don’t have any room left?” she asked.
Pete shrugged. “Seems like that’d be your problem.”
“Feed a stray and they’ll just keep coming back,” Jessie said. “That’s what my mama would say.”
They were right. Zoe was creating a situation she was unequipped to resolve. What was she going to do with Lucy now? She’d gotten sucked into the girl’s puppy eyes, and now she couldn’t just leave that puppy out in the cold. Could she?
She slipped into the single bathroom, her mind flip-flopping on what to do next as she washed her hands. She stepped back into the diner and looked up, surprised to see someone had joined Lucy in her booth. A man Zoe didn’t recognize. He was smiling at the girl, his hands resting on the table, his fingers inching toward Lucy’s.
Lucy giggled and tucked her hair behind her ear. Zoe’s stomach turned. She walked back to the counter and grabbed her coat.
“Looks like crazy made another friend,” Jessie teased. “You may be saved after all.”
Zoe pulled on her coat. She didn’t owe the girl anything. She’d already done more than most would have. Fed her. Given her shelter for the last few hours. They were strangers, and Lucy was nearly an adult. She was capable of making her own choices. Even if they were bad ones. But Zoe didn’t like the way Jessie was smirking, or the way the strange man was tenderly touching the back of Lucy’s hand.
Lucy nodded as the man stood, and she moved to do the same. Zoe gritted her teeth. She should leave it, then she’d be free. But she couldn’t. Maybe Lucy needed to be protected. Hadn’t Zoe once needed the same thing and never been offered it?
Zoe walked over to intercept the couple.
Lucy glanced up and smiled at Zoe. “Dash is going to give me a ride,” she said, truly unaware of what might be expected in return for such a favor.
“Out of the goodness of your heart,” Zoe mocked, glaring at Dash.
“This doesn’t concern you, unless you want to join,” Dash said with a wink.
“Gross,” Zoe said.
He wrapped his arm around Lucy’s shoulders. “Come on, honey.”
“Get your hands off her,” Zoe said, reaching out and yanking Lucy away from the predator.
“Back off,” Dash snapped.
Zoe stepped between him and Lucy. “Unless you want me to call the sheriff of this very small community town and tell him that an outsider is harassing young women at the diner, which would bring the entire department down here, you need to walk away.”
“You better do as she asked,” a male voice hollered from behind, and Zoe glanced back to see Pete leaning out the kitchen pass-through, drilling Dash with a deadly stare.
Dash cursed at Zoe so the whole diner could hear, then turned to Lucy and said, “Your loss, sweetheart.”
The bell dinged his exit, and Zoe turned back to Lucy. “What were you thinking?”
“He said he would give me a ride,” Lucy said. “He said he was nice.”
Zoe huffed in frustration. “If a man says he’s nice, he’s usually not.” She walked to the front window and watched Dash climb into his truck cab and drive off. “You can’t believe everything people say, Lucy.”
“Why not?”
Zoe turned back to her, stunned. This girl was going to get herself killed. She really was a puppy, and without a leash she’d run right out into the middle of the street.
“Do you have anywhere you can go?” Zoe asked.
“I don’t remember,” Lucy said.
Zoe exhaled. “Come on.”
She stepped outside, Lucy right on her heels. They descended the steps into the cold evening air. The rain had passed, but the sky was still heavy with dark clouds, blocking out the stars and making the night black. A cold wind whirled by and Zoe shivered, pulling her coat tighter across her chest. Lucy’s clothes hadn’t dried out and her hair was still damp, yet she didn’t seem to notice the chill at all.
“Are you sure this Summer Wallace isn’t here?” Zoe asked as they crossed the parking lot.
“You said this is Sherman, and she’s in Corpus Christi.”
“Because Olivia, who you can’t really remember, told you so? The same one that took your memories for your own protection? You realize how crazy that sounds, right?” Zoe said.
“It’s the truth.”
“How do you know if you can’t remember?”
Lucy opened her mouth to respond, then stopped. She thought about it for a moment, then said, “I trust her, like I trust you.”
“Why?” Zoe asked. “You don’t even know me!”
“You said I could.”
“Lucy, people lie. People lie more often than they tell the truth. Like Dash. Who knows what would have happened to you if you’d gotten in his truck. It’s woven into the human condition. People say one thing to your face and then do another behind your back. They make you believe their intentions are good when they are selfish. The world will chew you up and spit you out until you understand the only person you can rely on is you.”
Silence fell between them as Lucy weighed Zoe’s words. Then she locked eyes with her, and Zoe could see the pain in Lucy’s expression even in the darkness.
“You lied to me?” Lucy asked.
Zoe sucked in a short breath. The simplicity and directness of Lucy’s question punched her in the chest. She wasn’t sure what to say.
Lucy dropped her eyes, and after another drawn-out moment of silence she started walking toward the highway. Zoe wanted to make her understand, but she couldn’t formulate words that made sense. Lucy walked with decisiveness, not slowing as she reached the road and followed the graveled shoulder.
Zoe watched her for several moments as Lucy put distance between them. A large semi whizzed by, honking at Lucy as it passed. Probably because a teen girl walking along the highway in the middle of the night was dangerous and stupid. And the road was filled with people like Dash.